Jaswinder Dhariwal v HMRC

In Jaswinder Dhariwal v HMRC [2015] UKFTT 0041 (27 January 2015) the FTT found that reliance on an accountant was not a reasonable excuse.

Mr Dhariwal is a dentist who manages several dentistry practices and his tax affairs were dealt with by Mr Bhamra his accountant. At a meeting in February 2009 Mr Bhamra had indicated to Mr Dhariwal that his return for the previous year had been submitted (albeit late). The return was in fact not submitted until December 2012. Between April 2009 and December 2012 HMRC had written to Mr Dhariwal several times mentioning that the return was still outstanding and imposing penalties.

Mr Dhariwal contended that he had a reasonable excuse; he had relied on his otherwise trustworthy accountant who had intentionally misled him. Referring to Rowland [2006] UKspC 0054 the FTT noted that one...